Middle School Level


Activity 1 - Readily Accessible Tools to Support Reading Comprehension Strategies - MS Word, Mac Speech and Inspiration



  • Readability Statistics

    • MSWord >Tools > Spelling and Grammar > Options Button > Check Readability Statistics


  • Reading using the Mac Text to Speech Tool

    • Go to System Preferences > Select Speech > Select a Voice > Create a Hot Key to activate Text-to-Speech (Command+Option+T)


  • Reading Strategies using MSWord - Highlighting Tools and Inspiration

  • >>MSWord - Highlighting Tools (located on the formatting toolbar)

    • Select the yellow highlighter. Highlight the main topics and subtopics (words in bold)

    • Select the green highlighter. Highlight the Main Idea for each topic.

    • Select the turquoise highlighter. Highlight one supporting detail for each topic.

    • Select the pink highlighter. Highlight new vocabulary


  • >>Inspiration - Open Inspiration Cheetah file

    • Create a Topic Web and take notes in the writing view in Inspiration
    • Export to MSWord
    • Example: Inspiration - Cheetah with notes
    • Example: MSWord - Cheetah 2 column notes with images

  • Using Awesome Highlighter and Mac Speech - if time allows


    • Follow the directions by the instructor and in the handout.